In a significant shift from its traditional schedule, Gujarat University has officially announced that the first semester examinations for all undergraduate and postgraduate students admitted in the current academic year will now commence on January 22. This decision marks a delay of nearly one and a half to two months, a direct consequence of prolonged admission procedures under the Gujarat Common Admission System (GCAS).
The Root Cause: GCAS Admission Bottlenecks
Traditionally, the university wraps up first-semester exams for newly admitted students by the first week of December. However, for the past two years, a state government mandate has required admissions to government universities, including Gujarat University, to be conducted solely through the centralised GCAS portal. This well-intentioned move towards a unified system has, in practice, led to substantial administrative delays.
According to sources within the university, the admission process this year stretched to an unprecedented more than 32 rounds, continuing well beyond the Diwali festival. The late culmination of admissions naturally pushed back the subsequent critical stages of student enrolment and registration at affiliated colleges. In a recent circular, the university informed colleges that enrolment for UG and PG students admitted via GCAS for the 2025–26 academic year is still ongoing and may require another 10 to 15 days for completion.
University Directives and Finalised Exam Schedule
Faced with this backlog, the university had earlier indicated that exams would be pushed to the second or third week of January. To ensure smooth conduct, it issued a directive to all affiliated colleges, instructing them to keep their buildings available exclusively for examination purposes. This instruction was crucial as exams for all other semesters have already concluded, and the university aimed to prevent college premises from being allocated to other activities during the critical exam period.
With the dates now finalised, the academic machinery is set in motion. Both UG and PG first-semester exams will begin on the stipulated date of January 22. The university and its affiliated colleges are now tasked with expediting the remaining enrolment formalities to prepare students for the impending assessments.
Cascading Impact on the Academic Calendar
This delay is not an isolated event but is expected to have a cascading effect on the entire academic calendar for the year. A major concern raised by academic planners is the compressed timeline for the second semester. Once the first-semester results are declared, students progressing to the next semester will likely have only a limited number of teaching days before the April vacation period begins.
This compression raises legitimate concerns about potential academic loss, as the syllabus coverage and teaching-learning process for the second semester could be adversely affected. The ripple effects of the GCAS-driven schedule delay are thus poised to challenge the standard academic rhythm, putting pressure on both educators and students to cover the curriculum effectively in a shortened timeframe.
The situation highlights the teething problems associated with centralised admission systems, where procedural complexities can inadvertently disrupt well-established academic timelines. All stakeholders now await the smooth execution of the revised schedule, hoping for minimal disruption to the students' educational journey.
